Happy 16th Anniversary!!

Hi everyone!  This is Olivia, the daughter of the woman who writes on this blog!  I wanted to let you all know something very special.  Today is my parents' 16th wedding anniversary!!  Rather than my mom tell all of you, I "hacked" into her blog to tell you first!  This is from me and the rest of the crew, as we are called.

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away."   I Corinthians 13:4-8

                     

Mom and Dad, you are the best parents kids could ever wish for and we love you so much!  You have gone through married life with all of us right there behind you.  I don't know if that is completely a good thing or not, but we are glad we are able to celebrate with you today!  We love you!!!





p.s. My mom is wishing for more followers!  Could you consider hitting that "follow" button for her?  I'll help her post more often!

Love,

Your Kids

Adopted

Be sure to scroll down and pause our playlist before watching . . .

Carp-e Diem??

As we wait for winter to go away for good, the kids are going stir crazy with cabin fever.  The pond is full, thawed and ready for canoeing and seemingly, a little fishing???

This weekend, oldest son and a buddy headed out for some adventure.  This included among other things, cutting off a piece of their boxer shorts to start a fire out in the woods (these boys are resourceful!), shooting airsoft rifles and going down to the pond to see what they could see. 

Our pond is basically a glorified mud puddle.  It was completely dried out this summer except for a small little area that is a little deeper than the rest.  Seriously, we were walking around down there this fall and having nature hikes IN THE POND.  Like, IN it.  Dry as a bone.

Somehow, do not ask me how, they found these three beauties floating along the side.  Seems they were probably frozen over the winter and were thawed 'loose' by the warmer weather and snow/rain.  Now, I cannot tell you how shocking it was to see these huge and VERY smelly fish.  Carp, I'm told.  Who knew?  All the time we've lived here we have never seen a fish, never even considered they could be there as the pond has dried up twice since we've been here.

Turned out to be a really great day for a couple of 13 year old boys . . .



 This is the hand of our 11 year old for a size comparison. Rob's foot is just to the right.

Hope you all have a great week!

Birthdays!

We are patiently waiting on our referrals, praying for a certain little boy (still can't reveal details!), and ALL getting older.  Most of our family turns another year older in the winter months.  All but one have fall and winter birthdays so from September on we have LOTS of parties.  Throw in Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's and you can imagine the present buying/wrapping/receiving.  It is so much fun.

This year, my cake was made by oldest daughter - layers of fruit from the summer's harvest - I wonder if she's trying to tell me something?!  Really, it was refreshing and nice to lighten up after all the eating over Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We are needin' some serious exercise over here!  Looking forward to soccer and baseball this spring.

Oldest daughter turned 15 this year.  YIKES!  Where has the time gone?  Seems like a day ago that she was running around with a head full of curls.  You know when older folks tell you to enjoy the time because it goes so fast?  Well, I'm here to tell you, I GET IT.  Incredibly sad and exciting all at the same time and it seems the older you/they get, the faster it goes.  ENJOY it.  Make the most of the time and be purposeful with the days you have together.  I am trying more and more to not say "we'll do it later" with all of my kiddos.  Later is getting here WAY too soon for my liking.

This sweet girl has been such a joy to our family and such a great big sister.  She loves to write and loves photography and has started her own blog which you can see here:  http://astorytoldinpictures.blogspot.com/

More posts coming soon.  I am so hoping to be able to reveal some very good news.  Waiting on our agency, going before God daily and praying for a miracle. 

Hope you all have a great Monday!

5 Months DTE and Counting!

Well, as of February 3 we are officially 5 months into our wait for a referral.  The wait time right now is about 5-8 months or possibly more.  Things have slowed down a little over the past few months as Ethiopia makes positive changes in their court/embassy proceedings. 

We are busy staying busy and trying not to think about the wait.  Christmas made that somewhat easy but now, in the winter lull, we are starting to get anxious.  Waiting on God is getting really real.  :-)  We've been busy moving bedrooms around, wondering if these kiddos will be boys or girls or both.  The kids here are starting to argue about just where the new kids will get to sleep.  Fighting over having the privilege of sharing rooms!  That whole "I want my own room" thing is completely lost on our kids.  They have always loved sharing bedrooms.  Kind of like a constant slumber party in our house!

We are also on our knees about something related to adoption and though we can't reveal that just yet, are begging for prayer for a certain little boy and for God to blast through walls to make a way for him.  We have seen His hand working and are on our knees seeking just what He is trying to show us.  If it is what we think it is, it will take a supernatural effort to make it fall together.  What we know is this:  God is really big.  Nothing is too hard for Him.  His will cannot be thwarted.  So, we are trusting and waiting and praying big!

I have made a renewed committment to post more often.  I have some fun ideas in the works to shift over to a website supporting big families and advocating for orphans.  You can be sure there will be a lot of fun, humor and FOOD mixed in!

Blessings to you all . . . 

Jeremiah 32:17, 19 - "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.  Nothing is too hard for you . . . great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds."

Depraved Indifference

Project Hopeful

We are going through photographs from the trip and processing all that happened over those nine days, but I wanted to post this and advocate for these dear, dear children. There are SO MANY beautiful older children all over this world who have been orphaned due to HIV. Many of them are HIV positive, but with medication, are living normal, vibrant lives. I encourage you to watch this video of Carolyn Twietmeyer as she talks about ALL of her children - 7 bio and 6 adopted. Some of her children are HIV+.

Please pray for these children and for what your love could mean to them. There are so many ways to get involved. Visit Project Hopeful's website for more informaion.

Be sure to pause the playlist at the bottome of the page . . .